2020 book list.

An annual tradition, punctuated this year by an overwhelming number of novels, romance (?!), and beach reads with a smattering of anti-racist resources, non-fiction, and memoirs. This is a departure from previous years, but safe to say 2020 was a departure from previous years. Much of what I read came electronically by way of the library, which dictated my choices. Here’s a look with links to a few favorites:

1. Working by Robert Caro 

2. Little Weirds by Jenny Slate

3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

4. Hotel Chelsea by Colin Miller & Ray Mock

5. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey 

6. Petty the Biography by Warren Zanes

7. Tinderbox by Robert W. Fieseler

8. Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

9. Acid for the Children by Flea

10. User Friendly by Cliff Kuang

11. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

12. Brother and Sister by Diane Keaton

13. Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson 

14. Open Book by Jessica Simpson

15. Hill Women by Cassie Chambers

16. Becoming by Michelle Obama

17. Inheritance by Dani Shapiro 

18. Hell and Other Destinations by Madeline Albright

19. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston 

20. Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman

21. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

22. Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld 

23. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad 

24. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 

25. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

26. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory 

27. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

28. Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman

29. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 

30. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

31. The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley 

32. Sex & Vanity by Kevin Kwan

33. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

34. Common Sense by Thomas Paine

35. Nothing Like I Imagined by Mindy Kaling

36. Eat a Peach by David Chang

37. The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

38. Can’t Even by Anne Helen Petersen

39. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

40. Too Much & Never Enough by Mary Trump

41. The Art of Showing Up by Rachel Wilkerson

42. Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

43. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory 

44. Summer of ‘69 by Elin Hilderbrand 

After a few years of reading mostly on my phone, I ordered a new iPad that should arrive sometime in late January. I hope that supports my reading habits in the new year, as I also mull over membership to our local book coop. More reading is squarely on the agenda for 2021.

Image by @jsalvino.